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CONTENTION 

OF THE 

STJiTE OF JS'EWrORK. 



At a Convention of Delegates from the several Counties of 
the State of New-York, hereinafter designated, held at 
the Capitol in the City of Albajiy, on the 17th and ICth 
days of Septembei", 1812 : 

The following gentlengien appeared and took their seats-— 

Fror?i the County of Suffolk — John Jermain, 

Richmond — Cornelius Bedell. 

City and County of J\''Ejy-YoRK — Samuel Jones, jun. Peter 
Hawes, John W. Mulligan, Jotham Post, jun. William Hen- 
derson. 

DufcHESs—ANWli^xn. Bard, William A. Duer, Richard 
Whiley. 

Orange — John Duer, Thomas Waters, Allanson Austin, 
Charles Lindsay. 

Ulster — Jonathan Hasbrouck, James Oliver, Conrad E. 
Elmendorff, Stephen Nottingham. 

Sullivan — Charles Baker, Livingston Billings. 

Columbia — John Livingston, Jason Warner, Jacob R. 
Van Rensselaer, Thomas P. Grosvenor. 

Greene — John Adams, James Powers, William Frazer, 
Martin G. Van Bergen, Abraham Van Dyck. 

Rensselaer — -HoseaMoffet, Elijah Janes, Samuel Starr, 
William M. Bliss, Daniel Giay, Barent Van Vleck, Gardi- 
ner Tracy, Herman Knickerbacker. 

Dela ware — Ebenezer Foote. 

Washington — Ebenezer Clark, David Hopkins, Zebu- 
Ion R. Shipherd, Melancton Wheeler, Zina Hitchcock, Ed- 
ward Savage. 

City and County of Albant — Abraham Van Vechten, 
Harma«us Bleecker, Jacob Ten Eyck, Gideon Tabor, Wil.- 



4 

liam ]\rKown, Jesse Smith, Michael Freligh, Jonathan Jen- 
kins, John L. Winne. 

Saratoga — Guert Van Schoonhoven, Henry Mctcalf, 
Elisha Powell, Levi H. Palmer, John M'Crea, John H. 
Steel, Abner Carpenter. 

MoNTGOMERT — Daniel Paris, James Cochran, James 
Ford, Joshua Webster, Solomon Hamilton. 

City and Cuuntij of ScHENEcTADr — John Sanders. 

Schoharie— rOYi^tw Brigham, Benjamin Miles, Daniel 
Douw. 

OrsEGo — Jacob Morris, Robert Campbell, Joseph White. 

Herkimer — David V. W. Golden, Peter M. Myers. 

Oneida — Morris S. Miller, Jesse Curtis, James Dean, 
Adam G. Mappa, James Lynch. 

7l/^7)/,so-v--John Lincklaen, Peter Smith, Wm. S. Smith. 

Chenango — John S. Fhiglerj Joel Hatch, Matthew 
Caulkings. 

Onondaga — Joshua Forman. 

C'AruGA — Seth Phelps, Jphn Richardson, John Stoylls. 

Seneca — Reuben Smith, 2d. 

CoRT'LAND — Mead Merrill. 

Steuben a7id JiLEGANr— Samuel S. Haight, Benja- 
iTiin Wells. 

Tioga — Vincent Matthews. 

Broome — Edward Edwards, Daniel Le Roy. 

Genesee — Robert M'Kay, Daniel B. Brovrn. 

JViagara — Elias Ransom. 

Ontario — Valentine Brother, IVIyron Holly, Morris F. 
Sheppard, Daniel W. Lewis, Nathaniel Gorham. 

Leivis — Isaac W. Bostwick. 

Jefferson — John Paddock, Amos Benedict. 

General JACOB MORRIS, Avas unanimously elected 
President, and William Henderson, Secretary, 

The following resolution was then moved and unanimous- 
ly agreed to — 

RESOLVED, That Samuel Jones, Jun. John Duer, Zc- 
bulon R. Shlpherd, Morris S. Miller, Jacob R. Van Rens- 



seiacr, Daniel Paris, Nathaniel Gorhara, Robert Campbell, 
William Bard, Vincent Mathews, Havmanus Bleecker, 
Thomas P, Grosvenor and Abraham Van Vechten be a 
committee to prepare and draft resolutions expressive of 
the sense of this Convention relative to the state of our pub- 
lic affairs, and also to prepare and report an address to the 
people of the state on that subject. 

Mr. Jones, in behalf of the foregoing committee, report- 
ed the following resolutions and address, which were seve- 
rally read, discussed, and unanimously adopted. 

WHEREAS the great and paramount advantages of a 
republican government arise from the controling influence 
of public opinion on the measures of tlie administration : 
And whereas, that this influence may be felt, it is not mere- 
ly the right, but the duty of the people, from time to time, 
to assemble and express their sentiments in relation to the 
conduct of their rulers, with a clearness which they can- 
not misunderstand, and a firmness which they rtiic si respect: 
Therefore, 

Renolved, That the doctrine, of late so frequently and vi- 
olenthj inculcated,that when war is once declai'ed,all enquiry 
kito its justice and expediency ought to cease, and all op- 
position to the men in power immediately to be abandoned, 
is essentially hostile to the vital principles of our republican 
institutions ; and if adopted, would change our present go- 
vernment into one of the worst species of tyranny which 
the ingenuity of the foes of freedom has yet contrived ; a 
government republican in its forms, in spirit and practice, 
arbitrary and despotic ; that it must be obvious to the most 
ordinary capacity, that were such a doctrine to prevail, an 
administration which, by its corruption or imbecility, had 
justly forfeited the confidence of the people, would be tempt- 
ed to plunge the nation into an unjust or unnecessary war, 
for the sole purpose of perpetuating their power, and tlius 
building their own greatness on the ruins of their country. 
Resolved,Th2i\., without insisting an the injustice of the prt- 
sentwar, taking solely into consideration the time of declaring 



it and the state of the public mind, we are constrained to con- 
sider, and feel it our duty to pronounce it a most rash, unwise 
and inexpedient measure, the adoption of which ought for ev- 
er to deprive its authors of the esteem and confidence of an 
enlightened people ; because as the injuries we have received 
from France are at least equal in amount to those we have 
sustained from England, and have been attended with 
circumstances of still greater insult and aggravation — 
If war was necessary to vindicate the honor of the country, 
consistency and impartiality required that both nations 
should have been included in the declaration. Because, 
if it were deemed expedient to exercise our I'ight of se- 
lecting our adversary, prudence and common sense dic- 
tated the choice of an enemy, from whose hostility we had 
nothing to dread. A war with France would equally have 
satisfied our insulted honor, and at the same time, instead 
of annihilating, would have revived and extended our com- 
merce ; and even the evils of such a contest would have 
been mitigated by the sublime consolation, that by our ef- 
forts, we were contributing to arrest the progress of des- 
potism in Europe, and essentially serving the great inter- 
ests of freedom and humanity throughout the world. Be- 
cause, a republican government, depending solely for its 
support on the wishes and affections of the people, ought 
never to declare a war, into which the great body of a na- 
tion arc not prepared to enter with zeal and alacrity ; as 
vyhere the justice and necessity of the measure are not so 
apparent as to unite all parties in its support, its inevitable 
tendency is to augment the dissentions that have before ex- 
isted, and by exasperating party violence to its utmost 
height, prepare the way for the horrors of a civil war. — Be- 
cause, before war was declared, it was perfectly well ascerr 
tained, that a vast majority of the people in the middle and 
northern states, by whom the burthen of the contest 
must be borne almost exclusively, were strongly oppos- 
ed to the measure. — Because, we sec no rational prospect 
of attaining, by force of arms, the objects for which 
our rulers say wc are contending ; and because the evils 



and distresses, which the war must of necessity occasion, 
far overbalance any advantages we can expect to derive 
from it. — Because the great power of England on the ocean, 
and the amazing resources she derives from commerce and 
navigation, render it evident, that Ave cannot compel her to 
respect our rights and satisfy our demands, otherwise than 
by a successful maritime warfare, the means of conducting 
•which we not only do not possess, but our rulers have obsti- 
nately refused to provide. Because the exhausted state of 
the treasury, occasioned by the destruction of the revenue 
dei'ived from commerce, should the war continue, will 
render necessary a resort to loans and taxes to a large 
amount — measures by which the people will be greatly bur- 
thened and oppressed, and the influence and patronage of 
the executive alarmingly increased. And finally, because 
of a war begun with such means as our rulers had prepared, 
and conducted in the mode they seem resolved to pursue, 
we see no grounds to hope the honorable and successful 
termination. 

Resolved, That while we condemn the war, in the most 
distinct and unqualified terms, we are deeply sensible of 
the new duties and obligations which the change of our na- 
tional relations has imposed upon us ; and are fully de- 
termined, in our several capacities of magistrates, soldiers 
and citizens, to obey with promptness and alacrity all con- 
stitutional requisitions of the proper authorities ; seeking 
ho other redress for the evils of which we complain, than 
that which we confidently trust will be obtained from a 
change of sentiment in the people, leading to a change of 
men and measures. 

Resolved, That we view the creation of new states out of 
territories not within the ancient limits of the United States 
as inconsistent with the spirit of the federal compact, and 
calculated to destroy the weight which the old, great and 
populous states ought to have in the union, and utterly to 
disappoint and frustrate the great purposes for which they 
entered into the confederation. 



Resolved, That we consider the employment of the mili- 
tia, for the purpose of offensive war, as a palpable violation 
of the constitution, as extremely offensive to the people, as 
the most expensive and least efficient mode of conducting 
the war ; and as a serious and alarming encroachment on 
the rights of the several states, which it behoves the true 
friends of our excellent institutions, by all lawful meansj 
firmly to resist. 

Whereas the late revocation of the British orders it> 
council, have removed the great and ostensible cause of the 
present war, and prepared the way for an immediate accom- 
modation of all existing differences, inasmuch as, by the 
confession of the present secretary of state, a satisfactory 
and honorable arrangement might easily be made, by which 
the abuses resulting from the impressment of our seamen, 
might, in future, be effectually prevented ; Therefore, 

Resolved, That we shall be constrained to consider the 
determination on the part of our rulers, to continue the pre- 
sent war, after official notice of the revocation of tlie British 
orders in council, as affording conclusive evidence, that the 
war has been undertaken from modves entirely distinct from 
those which have been hitherto avowed, and for the promo- 
tion of objects wholly unconnected with the interest and 
honor of the American nation. 

Resolved, That we contemplate with abhorrence, even 
the possibility of an alliance with the present emperor of 
France, every action of -whose life has demonstrated, that 
the attainment, by any means, of universal empire, and the 
consequent extinction of every vestige of freedom, are the 
sole objects of his incessant, unbounded and remorseless 
ftmbition. Ilis arms, with the spirit of freemen, we might 
openly and fearlessly encounter; but, of his secret arts, his 
corrupting influence, we entertain a dread we can neither 
conquer nor conceal. It is, therefore, with the utmost dis- 
trust and alarm, that we regard his late professions of at- 
tachment and iove to the American people, fully recollect- 
ing, that his invariable course has been, by perfidious of- 
fers of protection, by deceitful professions of friendship, to 



lull his intended victims into the fatal sleep of confidence 
and security, during which the chains of despotism are si- 
lently Avound round and rivetted on them. 

Resolved, That we are firmly attached to the union of 
the states, most conscientiously believing, that on its pre- 
servation the future peace, security and independence, as 
well as power and grandeur of the American nation must 
mainly depend, and we are therefore strengthened in our 
reprobation of the measures of our present I'ulers, from a 
consideration of their evident tendency to produce a disso- 
lution of that union which we so warmly cherish. 

Resolved, That to effect a purpose not only so desirable, 
but so necessary, as a change of our present rulers, the 
barriers of party, which separate men differing, not in prin- 
ciple but in name merely, ought to be thi'own down, and 
every obstacle removed, which can prevent and impede the 
full and cordial co-operation of those who are actuated by 
the same feelings, and entertain the same sentiments. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the friends of 
peace, liberty and commerce, who arc opposed to the pre- 
sent war, without distinction of parties, to assemble in their 
respective covmties (v/herein such meetings have not been 
already held) and appoint committees of correspondence 
and conference, who if deemed necessary hereafter, may 
meet in a convention, for the purpose of explaining and 
comparing their sentiments, and concerting a common plan 
of operation, having for its object the restoration of peace 
to our degraded and afflicted country. 

JACOB MORRIS, President, 
\Vm. Henderson, Secretanj. 



B 



11 

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE 
OF NEW- YORK. 

Fellow Citizexs, 

-We should insult your understandings by an elaborate 
vindication of your right to canvass with the utmost free- 
dom, the measures of the men whom you have elected to 
administer your affairs. It is the possession of this I'ight 
that constitutes you free men. It is to the weak or the 
corrupt alone that its most unrestrained exercise can ever be 
formidable. It is in vain that the rulers of a free people 
attempt to shrowd their proceedings in a portentous secre- 
cy ; in vain that they resort to expedients, novel or uncon- 
stitutional, to abridge, if not extinguish, the freedom of de- 
bate. It is in vain that they represent their own interests 
or the interests of a party, as identified with the interests 
of the nation, and affect to consider all attacks on their 
characters or measures, as evidence of hostility to the 
government, or disaflfection to the country. The determi- 
nation of the people to examine their conduct with impar- 
tial freedom, must be strengthened by the anxiety whicli 
tiiey manifest to suppress or elude the enquiry ; an anxiety, 
announcing at once the secret conviction of guilt or error, 
and the dread of public exposure. — -With these impressions 
on our minds, feeling it our duty, fellow citizens, to address 
you on some of the topics that have employed our delibera- 
tions, we do not merely solicit, we demand your attention. 
Contrary to the expectations of many, the infatuation and 
violence of the supporters of the war seem to increase as 
the events of every day furnish additional evidence of its 
impolicy, and demonstrate the utter incapacity of our rulers 
to conduct it to a prosperous or honorable issue. The peo- 
ple it seems are to be allowed no leisure for reflection. All 
the arts of exaggeration, of falsehood, of calumny, arc cm- 
ployed to stimulate their passions, to rouse their deadliest 
hatred against those Avho still have the courage to utter 
.tiiose unAvelcome truths Avhicli the condition of the couutry 



12 

requires to be spoken— Whatever may be thought of the 
honesty of those, who are thus industrious to envenom sus- 
picion and exasperate rage, Avhich if not removed, or al- 
layed, may burst forth at no distant period in the conflagra- 
tion of civil war, the policy of their conduct, assuming 
the temporary triumph of party to be its object, is suffi- 
ciently evident. They well know that numbers are desti- 
tute of that firmness of mind to which the consciousness of 
integrity is alone a sufficient support, and cannot endure to 
be considered as the enemies of their country, even by those 
whose understandings they contemn, or whose delusion tliey 
pity : They well know that numbers are deterred from fol- 
lowing the dictates of their conscience, and are still retain- 
ed the degraded and reluctant slaves of party, from the sole 
dread of reproaches, at once plainly unjust, and ludicrously 
absurd. Yet, in truth, the iniquity of these calumniators is 
aot greater than their folly will ultimately prove. The de- 
lusion under which so large a portion of the people still 
appear to labor, cannot always continue ; If not dispelled by 
the force of arguments against the force of facts muck 
longer it cannot stand. If the prospects of future evils do 
not rouse the people, the sense of actual suffering most as- 
suredly will ; when the resentment which they are now 
taught to feel against their real friends, will change its ob- 
ject, and burst, perhaps, with fatal violence, upon the heads 
of those by whom they shall discover themselves to have 
been deceived and betrayed. 

His humanity or patriotism, however, is not to be envied, 
who can look forward with satisfaction to a change of which 
public distress and national disgrace shall alone have been 
the causes. Most nations indeed, have been condemned to 
learn the lessons of wisdom, from their own severe expe- 
rience ; yet we cannot but indulge the hope, that we may 
still resolve to profit in time by the experience of others. 
It is with this hope, fellow citizens, that we earnestly invite 
your attention to the facts and reasoning contained in the pre- 
sent address. We do not intend, on this occasion, to ex- 
amine how far tlie causes that have been assigned to justify 



13 

the declaration of war against England had a real exis- 
tence ; or how far, admitting their existence, they could 
with propriety be said to render necessary a resort to anns. 

These topics, fellow citizens, and the considerations which 
they suggest have already been brought before your view 
in various publications, and have been discussed with the 
highest ability. Since the adjournment of congress, the 
revocation of the British orders in council, has effected a 
most important change in the state of our national relations, 
so, that even those who approved of the war when declared, 
with the most perfect consistency, may now condemn thd 
continuance of hostilities. 

What is the object of continuing the M-ar ? If we refuse 
to avail ourselves of the opportunity aflbrded, by the revo- 
cation of the orders in council, and the disposition manifest- 
ed by the British government to make peace now, when 
and upon what terms is peace ever to be made ? These are 
tlie questions, fellow citizens, the consideration of which, 
■we would press upon your understandings and upon your 
consciences. We would urge the necessity of pursuing 
that course which the proper ansv/ers to these questions 
sliall plainly dictate. 

However opposite the opinions that prevail, as to the jus- 
tice of the present war, few will be disposed to deny, that 
its existence, must be regarded as a great national calamity. 
The evils indeed resulting from the measure are such as it 
requires no peculiar sagacity to discover, no extraordinary 
eloquence to display. The stagnation of all national im- 
provement, the annihilation of commerce, the rum of thou- 
sands, depending on commerce for their support, the loss 
of the revenue which it yielded, the imposition of new, and 
burthensome taxes, an immense accumulation of debt, the 
blockade of our seaport towns, the incursions of the sava- 
ges, the abandonment of our frontier settlements, the waste 
of human lives, the misery of widows and orphans. All 
these consequences of the war are most obvious and wholly 
unavoidable. 



14 

It is plain, therefore, tliat the authors of a measure s» 
fruitful of calamity, so deeply aflecting the interests of their 
country, have assumed a most awful responsibility. To vin- 
dicate themselves from the charge of having betrayed the 
confidence of the people, whether from profound ignorance, 
blind and headlong rashness, or actual corruption ; they 
are bound to prove, not merely that we had grounds of com- 
plaint against England, but that they were of sufficient mag- 
nitude to justify vv'ar. Not merely that the objects of the 
war are just, but that they are attainable ; not merely that 
they are attainable in themselves, but that the necessary- 
means to secure their attainment had been fully provided. 
For what can exceed the desperate folly, or the enormous 
guilt of involving a nation in the certain and necessary evils 
of war, for objects of doubtful right, of doubtful advantage, 
or doubtful attainment ? The advocates of the war are not 
entitled to call for the reasons of those who question the 
svisdom of the measure : The support of the affirmative 
rests upon them ; since every offensive war must be deemed 
unjust and imwisc, of which the justice and expediency 
cannot be clearly demonstrated. 

To a free people, no arguments arc requisite to be urged 
to vindicate a war strictly defensive. Were our territory 
invaded by a foreign power with the avowed purpose of sub- 
verting our government, and reducing us to the condition of 
slaves, he would be base indeed who would not submit 
with alacrity to every privation and sacrifice Avhich a state 
of war would demand. He who would then hesitate to 
fight until he had balanced the evils of submission against 
the dangers of resistance, by his very hesitation would con- 
fess himself to be a coward and a traitor. 

But the present war is not a war of defence, but of coer- 
cion ; not a war that has been forced upon us, but that we 
have ourselves commenced. To call it a defensive war, 
may indeed suit the purposes of those upon whom rests the 
tremendous weight, v/hich the rcponsibility of the measure 
fcas imposedj but such an abu&e of language we must be- 



15 

lieve is too palpaHe, even to impose on the understandings 
of those who are most willing to be deceived. 

We complain of having received certain injuries from 
England, the redress of which, by negociation, we had fail- 
ed to obtain. We resort to arms to compel that redress, and 
seek by our hostilities to inflict such deep and severe wounds 
on tlie prosperity of England (so far as not only to humble 
her pride, but reduce her power) that a regard to her owsi 
safety shall at length extort from her those concessions, 
which from her sense of injustice, (it is said,) it were vain 
to expect. 

Do we then possess the mearis of thus humbling the 
pride and reducmg the power of England ? Does there ex- 
ist the most remote probability that the result of our hos- 
tilities, will be to extort from her those concessions, which 
our rulers seem determined to require ? — For unless these 
questions can be answered in the affirmative, it must be ad^ 
mitted, that we are exhausting the strength, wasting the re- 
sources, and pouring out the best blood of the nation, in a 
contest hopeless and interminable. 

To enable us to decide in Avhat manner these questions 
ought to be answered, it is necessary that the object which 
our rulers have in view, in the continuance of hostilities, and 
the means on which they rely to insure its attainment, should 
be distinctly stated. 

We shall shoAV, fellow citizens, that the only assignable 
object of continuing the war, is to compel Great Britain to 
renounce the right of impressment, in the most absolute and 
unqualified manner, and that the only means, relied on for 
the attainment of this object, are privateering and the con- 
quest of the Canadas. 

The substantive causes of the war, as detailed in the mes- 
sage of the president to congress and the report of the com- 
mittee of foreign relations, are the refusal of Great Britain 
to repeal her orders in council after the alleged revocation 
of the French decrees, and the invetrate abuse of impress- 
ing our seamen. Other charges against England, such as 



16 

the Covering of her vessels on our coast, the alleged mission 
of Henry, the pretended incitement of the savages. Sec. are in- 
deed brought forward, but plainly not as causes of the war, 
but as topics of irritation. They are aU of them either so slight, 
or unimportant in themselves, admitting so easily of reme- 
dy, or so obviously resting on mere surmise and conjecture, 
unsupported even by the semblance of proof, that it is diSt- 
cult to believe that they can have been introduced for any 
other purpose than that of inflaming the passions of the 
people, by swelling, apparently, the catalogue of our 
wrongs. 

The orders in council have now ceased to exist ; the 
ports of the continent are again open to our vessels ; again 
may we resume that commerce, which poured wealth into 
our land, through a thousand channels ; supplied a revenue 
more than equal to the demands of government, and so ma- 
terially contributed to that unexampled prosperity which we 
once enjoyed : Yet, the Avar is still continued, and the refu- 
sal of the president to ratify the armistice, renders it evi- 
dent that from our present rulers we have no reason to ex- 
pect its speedy termination. 

The monstrous pretension of a right to impress our na- 
tive citizens Great Britain has never advanced. The right 
which she claims, and which from time immemorial, every 
nation of Europe has claimed and exercised, is that of 
taking her own subjects when found on board of neutral 
vessels. That in the exercise of this right, abuses have 
taken place to a great extent, and that some of our native 
citizens are now detained in the fleets of England, has never 
been denied. But are we waging war to effect their libera- 
tion, or to compel Great Britain to enter into an arrange^ 
ment that may prevent the recurrence of similar abuses ? 
It is not to effect their liberation — for but a few days previous 
to the declaration of war, a list of all Americans so detain- 
ed, was demanded by Mr. Foster, from our administration, 
and the faith of his government solemly pledged to restore 
them to their country. It is not to compel an arrangement, 
by which abuses may in future be prevented, for into such an 



17 

arrangement Great Britain has at all times professed hex 
VvilUngness to enter, and on one occasion an arrangement 
to us both honorable and advantageous, (we use the very 
terms of Mr. Munroe,) was actnally agreed upon between 
the ministers plenipotentiary* of the two countries, but was 
rejected by our administration. It is the absolute, the un- 
qualified surrender of the right therefore, we are justified 
in saying that our rulers demand, and that now constitutes 
the sole object of the war. 

We need not enlarge on the importance, wliich Great 
Britain attaches to the exercise of this right. It is unne- 
cessary to remark, that were neutral vessels permitted to 
become a refuge for her seamen, the lapse of a few years 
would be sufficient to unman her fleets. She justly consi- 
ders the right in question, as essential, not merely to her 
power, but circumstanced as she now is, essential to her 
very existence. — It must therefore be obvious to all, that no 
artifice of negociation, no compromise could ever induce her 
to surrender so important a right : As well might we ask her 
to place her navy in our hands— as well might we ask her to 
throw away both her sword and her shield ; to prostrate her- 
self at the feet of Bonaparte, and submit to the most degrad- 
ing terms, not of peace, but of servitude, which the ven- 
geance of the tyrant might impel liim to dictate. 

But we will wrest her colonies from her, Ave will conquer 
Canada ! That we can conquer Canada, no man who is com* 
petent to appreciate the resources of the nation can affect 
to doubt, though it is already apparent, that the conquest 
will demand a greater expense both of blood and treasure, 
than our sanguine politicians have been wont to calculate. 
We will not stop to compute the cost, or enquire into the 
value of the acquisition, but hasten at once to the questions 
which we are anxious to urge. Imagine the Canadas al- 
ready conquered, shall we make peace then and upon what 



* Note— Mp. Monroe, the present Secretary of State, and Mi* 
Pinckney, the present Attorney General, were the ministers plenipoten • 
tiary on the part of the Untted States, on that occasion. 

c 



18 

terms ? No raUonal man can believe, thai to regain the ptn- 
sessionof Canada, Great Britain wovikl consent to suri'ender 
the right of impressment, compared with the importance of 
which the value of this distant colony dwindles into utter in- 
significance. But having obtained Canada, it is said, we will 
no longer insist on the abandonment of impressment, we Avill 
then enter into an arrangement, that may reconcile the con- 
flicting pretensions of the two nations. What! enter into an 
arrangement then, that we might conclude now ? Abandon 
the alleged object of tlie war ? Confess that it is not as its 
authors have dared to call it, a great and necessary war — but a 
war of aggression and of conquest — and that our complaints 
of violated right are merely the pretext by which we have 
sought to cover our unjust ambition? But the consent of 
Great Britain, it must be recollected, will be necessary to 
the conclusion of a treaty of peace, that shall allow us to re- 
tain the possession of Canada — and who is it that believes, 
that while her present power and resources remain unim- 
paired, to a peace upon such terms she will ever consent ? 
Who is it that does not see, that to compel the restoration 
of her colonies she would put forth all the energy of her 
strength, and give " all the reins, to all her wealth." The 
conquest of Canada, in truth, would be the commencement of 
real hostilities : The war would then change its character, 
and become a war of defence on our part, of coercion on 
that of England. Invasion of our territory indeed she would 
not attempt, but a sudden and tempestuous blast would 
sweep our vessels from the ocean. Our gallant navy 
would be annihilated, in the desperate conflict, with su- 
perior overwhelming force. Our coasts would be harrass- 
ed by perpetual incursions. Our seaport towns rigoroush 
blockaded ; if not bombarded and destroyed— and Mhat com- 
pensation should we find for these evils ? What injuries 
should we be able to inflict in return ? How absurd is the 
comparison of the present contest, with our glorious and 
successful struggle for independence— because England 
could not conquer us then, does it follow that we can con- 
quer her now ? Yet conquered she must be, before she sub- 



19 

mits to the terms, which Mr. Madison seems resolved to 
exact. 

But the downfaU of England (such is the language we 
constantly hear) is rapidly approaching: She is borne to the 
ground by the enormous weight of her taxes ; she is exhaust- 
ed by her supernatural efforts; the united attacks of internal 
discontent and foreign hostility she cannot much longer re- 
sist; this war will accomplish her destruction — Good God ! 
It were in vain that we should attempt to repress or con- 
ceal the feelings which this language excites. We have 
indeed no charity for those who believe that England is me- 
naced with approaching ruin yet applaud and support the 
present war. If England fall, into whose hands must her 
power pass ? Who will then possess the dominion of the 
Qcean ? — And is it upon the justice and moderation of Bona- 
parte that we rely for the protection of our commerce, the 
support of our maritime rights ? The heart of the tyrant is to 
he suddenly changed. A moral miracle is to be wrought in 
our favoi'. His pretended love is to be converted into real 
affection. Who does not see that the fall of England is the 
triumph of France ? They are the battles of France then 
that we are fighting. A free people are pouring forth their 
blood and treasures with a mad profusion, to accelerate the 
success, promote the aggrandizement, extend and confirm 
the despotism of a tyrant>,the most able, systematic, persever- 
ing and relentless, that the world has ever seen ! A single 
barrier arrests his march to universal empire : A single bul- 
wark protects us from the gi'asp of his ambition, and with 
blind and stupid exultation we assist in its destruction. 

Yet the hearts of those who exult in the hope, that the 
predictions of the downfall of England will soon be accom- 
plished, are not more corrupt, than we believe the predic- 
tions themselves to be irrational and absurd. — For the last 
thirty years these prophets of evil, have been constantly 
pouring forth their denunciations against England, and every 
successive year has condemned them to endure the tor- 
ments of disappointed malignity. — During the whole of this 
period her commerce, her wealth, her population and power 



20 

have been constantly encreasing with a proportional rapidity 
wholly unparalleled in any previous stage of her existence. 

That discontents now prevail in England to a considera- 
ble extent is highly probable, and it is at least possible that 
they may continue to spread and burst forth at last with the 
destructive fury of a popular revolution. But will the 
change of government, change the spirit and character of 
the nation ? Will a national bankruptcy, should it ensue, 
absorb in the ruin all the real and permanent wealth of the 
country ? What though all tlie public men in England 
should be swept away by the torrent of a revolution ; do 
they alone possess the knowledge, talents and genius, that 
qualify men for command, and enable them to draw forth 
the resources and wield the powers of an empire ? It can- 
not be that we are still ignorant of the nature and conse- 
quences of revolutions. It cannot be that the revokition in 
France, the most absolute and destructive that the world 
has witnessed, has passed before our eyes without notice 
and without instruction. — Have we forgotten its effects in 
the developement of talents ; in the elevation of mind, of 
predominant, paramount ability ? What is it that has placed 
France where she now stands, what but the tremendous 
energy, which her revolution excited. 

It is therefore utterly improbable that a revolution of the 
government in England would at all diminish the resources 
or impair the strength of the nation. That it would not in- 
duce them to abandon their essential rights, and submit 
•without further struggle to the power of him who has sworn 
their destruction, is morally certain. 

With what hope, therefore, we again ask, are we urged 
to prosecute the war ? What probability is there that a pe- 
riod will occur when we shall be enabled to negociate a 
peace with Great Britain upon terras more advantageous 
and more honorable than we have it now in our power to 
obtain ? 

The right of impressing her seamen, to compel her to 
surrender which, we have already shewn, is now the sole 
object of the war, wc may be morally certain she never will, 



21 

as, without consenting to her own destruction, she never 
can, renounce. 

We put it to the conscience of every individual to answer 
whether, if information of the repeal of the orders in coun- 
cil had been received before war was declared, he can be- 
lieve that measure could ever have been adopted ? Would 
not the majority in Congress, intemperate and violent as 
they were, have been suddenly arrested in their course ? 
Would the people have borne a war commenced for a 
cause, which is now assigned as the only reason to justify 
the continuance of hostilities ? 

But, fellow citizens, could it even be demonstrated that 
the observations, we have offered are founded in a mistaken 
view of the interests and policy of the nation ; could it even 
be demonstrated that by persevering in their course our 
rulers will extort from England the concessions which they 
demand ; still, in no equivocal language, in no hesitating^ 
tone, should we condemn the continuance of the war ; &till 
should we feel ourselves bound to exert our efforts for the 
immediate restoration of peace. We cannot forget that in 
our collective and national capacity, we are bound by the 
same rules of morality and justice of which we acknowledge 
the obligation as individuals — we cannot forget that this 
pretension of the immunity of our flag, of our right to spread 
it for the protection of foreigners, is novel and unprecedent- 
ed-— has never been advanced by any former administration. 
We cannot forget that the right which Great Britain claims 
of taking her own subjects, when found on board the pri- 
vate vessels of neutral nations, by universal consent and 
practice, has become a part of that system of public law, 
which is the general compact of civilized nations ; to which 
they all are parties, and by the provisions of which they all 
are bound. Were it even possible, therefore, that we could 
feel tempted to approve of the war as expedient, our con- 
sciences would compel us to reprobate it as unjust — We 
could not consent to share the awful responsibility of those 
who are the authors of the measure by giving it our appro- 
^^ation and support— We could not become partakers of the 



22 

'' gu'ilt of blood" and assist in drawing down upon the nation 
the vengeance of insulted Deity. 

Even were the justice of our cause as clear as the 
advocates of the war wish us to believe, the injuries we 
have received from France, for which no reparation has 
been received or offered, it cannot be denied are at least 
equal to those we have sustained from England — and how 
any rational and moral man, looking at the state of the world, 
at the views and relative strength of the belligerent powers, 
would justify the selection of England as our adversary, we 
confess ourselves wholly unable to conceive. Are the peo- 
ple of this country prepared to face the horrors of a French 
alliance, to which a war with England naturally, almost ne- 
cessarily, leads ? Can they banish from their minds the con- 
viction, that by waging war against England we in effect co- 
operate with France — become active agents in her system 
to " enslave and brutalize the human race" — extinguish the 
lights of religion, of science, of freedom, and replunge the 
world in barbarism thicker and darker than that from which 
civilized Europe so slowly emerged. The events of the 
last twenty years, events which have changed and desolated 
the face of Europe, must be wholly forgotten before our 
fears of French alliance can be derided as visionary. It 
must be forgotten, that the victories of France have uniform- 
ly been prepared by her arts and her corruption, and that 
all the victims of her ambition have first been bound in the 
spell of her friendship. Were the armies of France now 
to be landed on our shores, our confidence in the ability of 
a free people, of unbroken spirit and untainted honor, to re- 
pel the invaders, would be full and undoubting. Yet the 
liberty which the arms of France might in vain attempt to 
destroy, may expire without a struggle, in the poisonous 
*nd emasculating folds of French alliance. 

Fellow citizens — All who unite in the sentiment of dis- 
approbation of the war, whether from conviction of its im- 
policy, or its injustice, are bound to unite in their efforts, 
for the restoration of peace. To enable us to act together, 
it is sufficient that we are agreed on this great practical 



23 

question, and a difference of opinion on other subjects con- 
nected with national policy, should be regarded as specula- 
tive merely. The ordinaiy distinctions of party at a period 
like the present, should be abolished, and those hostile feel- 
ings which their pi^valence has engendered, should be ab- 
sorbed and swallowed up in one common and generous pas- 
sion, for the safety, the welfare and happiness of our coun- 
try. 

That to effect the restoration of peace the change of our 
present rulers is indispensably necessary, few arguments 
can be requisite to convince your understandings. A nego- 
ciation to be successful must be conducted in the spirit of 
amity, with the real desire of reconciliation. The avowed 
prejudices of our present rulers, that glai'ing partiality to 
France which their conduct has exhibited, and that dis- 
trust of their views and characters, which it is impossible 
that our enemies should not entertain; create obstacles to 
the success of any negociation to be commenced by them 
which we sincerely believe to be wholly insuperable. 

Even should Mr. Madison and his cabinet be driven to 
conclude a peace, from a dread of the immediate loss of 
popularity and power, or an overwhelming sense of their 
own inability to cope with the difficulties, that press and ac- 
cumulate upon them ; whilst the opinions and prejudices 
of the men in power remain unchanged, who could regard 
the peace as secure and permanent ? Such a peace would 
in truth be little more than a cessation of hostilities — a hol- 
low and precarious truce. All the existing sources of irri- 
tation, would be carefully cherished and preserved — fresh 
topics of complaint would be found or exaggerated — arts 
that have already pi'oved successful, would again be em- 
ployed to mislead and inflame the people, and in the course 
of a few years their incurable and desperate infatuation 
again would plunge the nation wholly unprepared into an 
unjust or unnecessary war. It is abundantly evident, how- 
ever, that Mr. Madison has no wish for peace, but is deter- 
mined at every hazard to prosecute the war. 



24 

How strong, how powerful were the motives that ufgec! 
liim to ratify the armistice, and avail himself cf the oppor» 
tunity of negociatlon that was then aftbrded him. By the 
adoption of this measure he would have silenced ail oppo- 
sition to his re-election as president, and i,i all probability 
would have insured the general tdumph of his party. How 
strong, how powerful, therefore, must have been the moUvcs 
that withheld him from pursuing this course ! 

Is it that Mr. Madison well knows that the immediate and 
necessaiy consequence of peace with England upon any 
terms, is war with France ? Has he any peculiar personal 
reasons to dread a rupture with that power : Is he bound 
in ties that he cannot, or dare not, break ? 

Fellow citizens — The right of choosing our rulers not 
only implies the right of judging of their conduct, but im- 
poses it as a duty on every elector, to seek those means of 
information and exert those powers of reflection, that can 
alone enable him to appreciate their merits or ascertain 
trheir defects. The time has arrived when the neglect of 
this duty, a neglect seldom to be excused, is no longer safe. 
The state of our public afluiis now calls caiphalloally on 
every elector to remember that the right of suffrage is not 
a mere arbitrary privilege, in the exercise of which his ca- 
price, his prejudices, his passions, may safely be indulged ; 
but a most serious and important trust cu7mnUied to the iri' 
dividual for the general good, a trust, in the firm, the enlight- 
ened and conscientious discharge of which the destinies of 
his country, the happiness or misery of *^ millions yet un- 
oorn," may possibly depend. 

JACOB MORRIS, President, 
William Henderson, Secretary. 



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